Obama Enlists Clinton in Promoting Health-Care Law

Former President Bill Clinton said Sept. 4, “The health of our people, the security and stability of our families, and the strength of our economy are all riding on getting health care reform right and doing it well.” Photographer: Michael Reynolds/Pool via Bloomberg

Sept. 24 (Bloomberg) -- President Barack Obama enlisted the
help of former President Bill Clinton as his administration
opens a campaign to get millions of Americans to enroll for
insurance under his signature health-care law.

Obama used an appearance at the Clinton Global Initiative,
hosted by the former president, in an attempt to fend off
attacks on the program from Republicans one week before a six-month enrollment period is set to begin.

“There’s been millions of dollars spent making people
scared and worried about this stuff,” Obama said, sitting side-by-side with Clinton at the gathering in New York. “Rather than
try and disabuse people of every bit of this information that’s
out there, what we’re saying is: ‘Just look for yourself.’”

The Obama administration is campaigning to get uninsured
Americans to sign up for coverage. The Congressional Budget
Office estimates that 7 million Americans who don’t get health
coverage at their jobs will enroll through new insurance
marketplaces.

The partisan clash over the law has been waged for three
years since Congress passed the Affordable Care Act. For the law
to succeed, the White House must enroll millions of young and
health Americans for the insurance plans.

“The only way this works, for example, is if young people
show up, even if they buy the cheapest plan,” Clinton said.

The Republican-controlled House last week passed
legislation to finance government operations past the Sept. 30
end of the fiscal year, while eliminating funding for the
health-care law.

Republican Efforts

If that effort fails, Republican leaders have threatened to
introduce a bill that would tie raising the country’s debt limit
to delaying implementation of the health law for a year.

Republican-run legislatures and governors in at least 21
states have refused funding to expand Medicaid coverage for the
poor and 27 have declined to set up the insurance exchanges
created under the measure. House Republicans have voted more
than 40 times to repeal or defund all or parts of the law.

Opposition to the law has become a “litmus test” for
Republican officials in some states, Obama said.

To counter Republican attempts to scuttle the law, the
White House’s six-month campaign to build backing for the law is
featuring cabinet members and celebrity supporters including
former talk show host Oprah Winfrey, rock musician Jon Bon Jovi
and comedian Amy Poehler, to tout its benefits.

Obama Speech

Obama will talk about the law again Sept. 26 at an event in
a Maryland suburb of Washington, and first lady Michelle Obama
plans events designed to highlight the benefits for women and
veterans. Vice President Joe Biden will hold a call with nurses
across the country while other Cabinet officials will hold
events with local officials across the country.

This is second high-profile event Clinton has hosted to
promote the law that has become known as Obamacare. Earlier this
month, the former president delivered an almost hour-long speech
that was broadcast on the White House website.

“The health of our people, the security and stability of
our families, and the strength of our economy are all riding on
getting health care reform right and doing it well,” Clinton
said in the Sept. 4 address at his presidential library in
Little Rock, Arkansas.

Clinton and his wife, former Secretary of State Hillary
Clinton, failed in their attempt to pass a comprehensive health
care law two decades ago. Hillary Clinton, a potential
presidential candidate in 2016, introduced Obama at today’s
event.

More than 1,000 business, government, and philanthropic
were expected in New York for the Clinton Global Initiative, an
annual meeting hosted by the Clinton family foundation.
Participants include Goldman Sachs Group Inc. Chief Executive
Officer Lloyd Blankfein, Cisco Systems Inc. CEO John Chambers,
Microsoft Corp. co-founder Bill Gates and Queen Rania Al
Abdullah of Jordan.